No sooner did I make that last unpromising post than I found myself recording some more music with Brian, and planning to book time in a studio for the first week of January. Hopefully sometime over the next semester we will find a @#$%ing drummer!

Until then, check out this new demo song that we have uploaded:

* The Grinder's Tale - An old recording of one of Brian's songs that finally got vocals. I'm kind of proud of the piano part I wrote for it, and I really like the main guitar riff... it's a lot of fun, both to play and to listen to ^_^ That said, we didn't always manage to stay on the beat, and the song does drag out a bit in parts... it could use a little condensing and re-recording. I'm not putting it on the "demo CD" right now, at the moment it's a "bonus track" on our download page.

Unfortunately, I must deliver the sad news that Wrong Side of Dawn is on hiatus for the indefinite future. Karen has flown home to Minnesota, and Brian is preparing for law school, and it is uncertain how long I (Nelson) will be in the area myself. We will all no doubt continue to write, play and record music separately, but geographical distance, time constraints and lack of a drummer conspired to make our goal of recording together in a professional recording studio this summer impossible. (Ironically, a drummer finally responded to our Craigslist ad two days ago, but it was too late.)

We will probably continue to use this site to document our musical activities, and if we record any more demo tracks they will probably show up here.

Until then, you'll have to remain satisfied with our demo CD as it stands today.

We've stitched together a demo CD from tracks that we've recorded individually and a few tracks that we've managed to record together... we hope that you like it! Feel free to download the songs and burn a copy for a friend, especially if they play drums or bass and might want to join the band ^_^

UPDATE: Between Brian, who owns and plays bass, and some of our friends who are more talented at bass than he is, we have bass covered. We are still desperately seeking a drummer, and our recording project is permanently stalled until we can find one. Please help us in the drummer search!

Well, back to the drawing board... our tentative bassist Ty picked up a second job and therefore has run out of time to play with us this summer. This means we are once again in the market for both a bassist AND a drummer. We'll be posting to Craiglist and other forums soon. If you've heard our music and liked us, tell your drumming and bassing friends and maybe we can join forces!

Karen Rustad (11:23): What kind of band are we again?
Nelson Pavlosky (11:23): good question
Nelson Pavlosky (11:24): classic rock + punk/ska/emo + whatever you listen to?
Nelson Pavlosky (11:24): or rather whatever you write/sing/play
Karen Rustad (11:24): rock/post-rock/pop?
Nelson Pavlosky (11:24): we cover a lot of territory
Karen Rustad (11:25): Pretty much.
Karen Rustad (11:25): All we need is a rapper...

We had our first practice the weekend before last, and it went pretty well... we recorded a few songs and took some pictures, and generally rocked out. We also discovered the one thing Friends is good for.

Unfortunately, Brian's in New Brunswick, while Nelson and I are in the western Philly suburbs, so that has been an obstacle to getting practice time in. On our own, though, Nelson and I have been hitting up open mikes in the area. We went to The Coffee Club in Media on Friday, which was a lot of fun -- lots of blues-influenced musicians and REALLY good hot chocolate. And on Wednesday we went to Delaware for the first time as we attended Stoney's open mike in Wilmington. That was a different crowd -- as many stand-up comedy acts as musicians, with beer-fueled crude humor. 'Twas lovely.

We still need to find an open mike that has its own piano, so I can play some of my stuff. Or maybe I just need to haul Nelson's keyboard around...

In other music news, on Saturday Tryad [Karen's internet band] officially released "Beauty" as a single. Check it out. The way it's looking, Tryad's sophomore album ("Listen") should be coming out in August or so. Woo!

Cross-posted from Karen's blog with edits.

If you are a drummer or you know a drummer who lives near Philadelphia or New Brunswick, NJ, and you like our music, please get in touch with us! (just leave a comment or e-mail us at band@wrongsideofdawn.com) Until we have some percussion our rockingness will be sadly curtailed.